China Think Tank Recommends End to Brutal One-Child Policy

A think tank in Communist China is recommending that the government do away with its 30-year policy that has limited most Chinese couples to having but one child.

A think tank in Communist China is recommending that the government do away with its 30-year policy that has limited most Chinese couples to having but one child. The China Development Research Foundation (CDRF) is suggesting that by 2015 the government segue into allowing families the luxury of two children, according to AFP News. The proposed change “would see the world's most populous country eventually abandon a measure that has been blamed for creating a demographic time bomb,” reported the French news agency, “with an aging population foreshadowing huge economic and social problems.”

In its report evaluating the policy, which has been widely condemned by religious leaders and pro-life organizations around the world, the CDRF said that “problems in population structure, quality, and distribution have become increasingly visible and will have a profound impact on China's future social and economic development. China has paid a huge political and social cost for the policy, as it has resulted in social conflict, high administrative costs, and led indirectly to a long-term gender imbalance at birth.”

The Associated Press briefly touched on the “political and social cost” of the policy, noting that while the Chinese government “credits the policy with preventing hundreds of millions of births,” the imposed family limits “have led to forced abortions and sterilizations, even though such measures are illegal. Couples who flout the rules face hefty fines, seizure of their property and loss of their jobs.”

The CDRF is recommending that following 2015 increase to two children, the government should do away with all restrictions by 2020, “as people will make more rational decisions on birth issues.”

China experts say that the study most likely represents more than just recommendations, and reflects planned policy for the Communist government. Cai Yong, an assistant professor of sociology at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, told the AP that because the think tank is under China's State Council, its recommendations portend a long-range government plan for scrapping the restriction on children. “That tells us at least that policy change is inevitable,” said Cai. “It's coming, but we cannot predict when exactly it will come.”

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